Decode Base64 to text
Base64 is an encoding, not encryption: it exists so binary or arbitrary text can travel through systems that only handle plain characters. Decoding just reverses that packaging. This decoder expects standard Base64 (+ and /); for the URL-safe variant used in JWTs and web tokens (- and _), the Toolbox has a separate Base64URL decoder.
Example
aGVsbG8gd29ybGQ=
hello world
The trailing = is padding. Input with missing padding is tolerated where unambiguous.
Input and output
Input is a Base64 string; whitespace and line breaks (common when Base64 is wrapped in config files or MIME) are handled. Output is the decoded content interpreted as UTF-8 text.
If the input is not valid Base64 you get an error, not garbage. If the decoded bytes are not text (an image, a zip), the output will look like binary noise; the tool does not guess file types.
Privacy
This tool runs entirely in your browser. The input is never uploaded, logged, or stored; close the tab and it is gone. The one deliberate exception in the whole Toolbox is the explicit Save as new paste button on the output, which does exactly what it says and nothing before you press it.
Decoding happens in the page. Base64 values are frequently credentials in disguise (basic auth headers, service-account JSON in env vars), which is exactly the kind of thing that should not travel to someone's server just to be read.
Common uses
- Reading a Basic auth header or a Kubernetes secret value
- Inspecting a Base64 payload found in a log line or email source
- Checking what a base64-encoded environment variable actually contains
- Decoding data URIs by hand while debugging
Need to share the result?
Run the tool, then use Save as new paste on the output to get a link you can send. The paste is unlisted, expires in a week, and the recipient needs no account. Or start from a blank paste if you already have the text.
Related tools
More tool pages: Format and validate JSON, Decode a JWT, Generate UUIDs, Convert a Unix timestamp to a date, Convert CSV to JSON. Everything else lives in the full Toolbox, which also chains tools into workflows.